Neylan pays her way to road cycle silver

23 Sep 2012, 7:42 pm   -   Source: AAP

Rachel Neylan had to pay her way around Europe in the lead-up to collecting the silver medal in the 129km women's road race at the world titles.

Rachel Neylan has never done it the easy way.

So when the mature-age cyclist's pro team ran out of cash two months ago, she had no choice but to pay her way around Europe to qualify for Australia's world road championships team.

That the physiotherapist made her maiden Australian team for the world titles at the age of 30 was a dream come true just five years after switching to the sport following stints in athletics and rowing.

That she hooked onto a breakaway in Saturday's 129km road race in the Netherlands that was never chased down by the peloton was something else.

That she led Dutch cycling superstar Marianne Vos up the final climb in the hilly Limburg region was almost an out of body experience.

That Vos exploded up Cauberg hill to victory was expected, that Neylan held on for silver was something the Sydneysider was still getting her head around the following day.

She said formulating her own program, having to gain guest rides in lower category races and digging into her own pocket for the past two months had been a "little stressful".

But she knows how to handle a setback or two, having broken her pelvis twice last year.

"They always say your darkest hour is just before the dawn and I have worked really hard the last couple of years and I have overcome a lot more than that (team closing down)," Neylan told AAP.

"There was no other option other than to just make it happen.

"That is a big philosophy in my life, you just have to make it happen.

"No one is going to give it to you on a silver platter."

Neylan's result matched the best performance by an Australian woman in the road race at the world titles with Liz Tadich and Anna Wilson finishing second in the 1997 and 1999 editions respectively.

The podium finish was the nation's first in the women's road race since Oenone Wood collected bronze in 2005.

Neylan worked as a physiotherapist for the Sydney Swans between 2004 and 2007 and said messages of support had come flooding in from the AFL grand final-bound team.

"I thought it might have been an omen when the Swans beat their seven-year hoodoo against Collingwood as the last time an Australian woman won a medal was in 2005," she said.

After trying her hand at running, rowing, then running again, Neylan decided to have a crack at cycling through Cycling Australia's national identification program and moved to Adelaide.

"I only started pedalling a bike five years ago and I only really started getting competitive three years ago," she said.

"I had an amazing opportunity with the Amy Gillett Foundation, I received a scholarship to race with the national team in 2010 and that was what really kickstarted things.

"At no stage was I told I was going to be a great cyclist or that I was talented but that is the best recipe as it just keeps you trying for more and wanting to prove to people that you can do it."

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